I started abseiling, mountain climbing and watching nature shows. Ah, ah, all in the comfort of my own home, on video and DVD surround sound. Yeppers, life changed. I grew tomatoes, started to listen to alt rock and pop more and out of the blue procrastinated a whole lot more often.

Then understood why I wasn't a fan of contact sports, mainstream music and such.

P.s. That's in the past now. While MBTI in itself didn't change anything, it did have its positive effect working together with other things that gave me the courage to be myself, in spite of the public norms.

I had no idea how to type myself at first; I just knew I was N. The S/N divide was helpful in terms of accepting my differences, but I went a bit overboard and became pretty biased against S types for a while, probably because I was jealous of them for being more normal.

When I thought I was INFJ, I never felt that close to other INFJ types, and didn't think the description fit me all that well. So I figured it was a flaw with MBTI instead of a mistyping. But even now that I figure I'm INTP, I still don't think I fit entirely well -- especially considering the prototype.

My dad is also INTP, and while I see tons of similarities in our thought style, our interests and skills have diverged over my life. I focus much more on psychology than most INTPs, it seems. I see lots of aspects of my mother's personality in myself, too (I recently figured she was ISFJ) -- I think I got the people orientation from her.

Anyway, at this point, I don't think of myself as much different than I did before I learned MBTI (except differences in maturity, but that's outside the realm of personality psychology anyway). MBTI cannot explain most nuances in my personality -- and I think I've strayed far from the prototypical INTP due to nurture.

I guess it's nice to be able to label my extreme analytical and abstract nature, but that's really all there is.

Yeah, I'm not sure knowing of my supposed mbti type ever really assisted ME or gave me further insight into what I already knew about myself; however, back when I first learned of the 16 types, I found reading of the other types very interesting. And..the whole concept (when kept very big-picture, not making it into more than it is) jived with how I viewed things...the whole 'everyone approaches/perceives the world in a different way, with different priorities, and my way isn't the only way'..that sort of thing.

Learning of 'my type' wasn't overly useful for me because 1. When I first learned of my type, I thought I was INTJ, and related to maybe half the INTJ profile but scratched my head on the other half. The same can sort of be said for the INFJ profile, actually. So I've never fully related to any one type.

I find the theory and the cognitive functions useful/helpful in the sense that I have terms to apply to rather abstract processes, so in that sense the theory/terminology can provide a framework for communicating with others about how I operate and approach the world. But extending the theory into the nitty-gritty like many people try to do is when I start finding it less applicable to both myself and others I know.

"...On and on and on and on he strode, far out over the sands, singing wildly to the sea, crying to greet the advent of the life that had cried to him." - James Joyce

When I first read about my type I was a little amused by the flattery in that and all the type descriptions. I don't relate to any one description entirely.

When interacting in MBTI based environments, I would have to say I think others' perceptions of me is probably less accurate than in environments without that overlay of MBTI assumptions. I am rather fond of a number of people in this and other MBTI environments and so I hang out here. Sometimes another person with a similar type will make posts that resonate with me. I always like reading cascadeco's posts and can often relate. That has been its most positive aspect for me. It hasn't made me feel any more understood, or given me more reason for not fitting in or feeling loneliness and such things.

I sometimes get burnt out on the negative stereotypes and strange assumptions that result from MBTI. It has been interesting to be in the dominant group as an N and the non-dominant group as an F over the years. It has provided a fair amount of insight into social behaviors and interactions that I didn't have the chance to experience in such a parallel way for comparison.

Step into my metaphysical room of mirrors. Fear of reality creates myopic moralitySo I guess it means there is trouble until the robins come
(from Blue Velvet)